Never Without You
by cherryblossom1212
Summary: Sakura tries to sort out her feelings and an unexpected torment shows himself again. KakaSaku and slight SasuSaku
1. Weakness

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of it's characters

A/N: My first public fanfic. Please don't destroy me too bad. Story is slightly AU and also may have some OOC. I'm working on that though.

"Sakura… CONCENTRATE!" A blonde haired kitsune shouted with too much enthusiasm. His outburst didn't warrant more concentration, but it did win him a large lump on his head.

"Maybe I would be able to better concentrate if you SHUT UP!" The pink haired kunoichi replied a little too sweetly sarcastic. Sakura had been working on Genjutsu with Naruto for half the day already, and she was exhausted. Her chakra was starting to run low, and she was hungry.

_If he wasn't so annoying you would have it already, _inner Sakura commented.

Even though both nins were Jonin rank, Naruto always insisted on training Sakura on basics. The ANBU exams were coming up soon, and Naruto didn't want Sakura to fail. He had always held a strong affection to the pink haired girl now woman, but Hinata had his whole heart. Sakura was more like a sister to him. Besides, Sakura never demonstrated any interest in the men of the village lately.

"Sakura-chan, why don't you ever go on dates? I never see you even eyeing anyone. You even stopped obsessing over Sasuke-kun," Naruto asked nonchalantly.

_He's right you know. _Sakura chose to ignore that comment. "Well Naruto, I just haven't found a man who piques my interest yet. Sasuke-kun is too absorbed in his job, so I hardly see him enough to obsess over him."

In truth Sakura did obsess over someone, but that someone happened to be a former silver-haired sensei to Team 7. She often dreamed of him, but she couldn't admit that to Naruto. Some things were best kept quiet.

"Sakura are you even listening to me?" Naruto waved his hand in front of her emerald eyes. They had gone cloudy and glazed over.

Sakura nodded deftly before realizing that she had lost herself in a daydream. "Naruto, I'm sorry. What were we talking about?" Before Naruto could answer Shizune appeared in the clearing where the two were training.

"Tsunade-sama would like to see both of you immediately. It's important." Shizune turned on her heel and left, expecting the two ninjas to follow.

Naruto shrugged and gave one of his famous toothy grins before molding chakra to his feet and taking off. Sakura followed suit and easily kept pace. She had always been better at her chakra control. The two leapt on roofs as they made their way to the Hokage tower.

Upon their arrival, Sakura and Naruto knocked on the door to Tsunade's office.

"ENTER," a raspy, cranky voice from within barked. "Naruto, Sakura. Please have a seat. I have a mission for you two as well as two others. This is an A ranked mission, so I have brought in two other people to accompany you."

With a loud pop two figures appeared in the office. "Hokage, sorry we are late. We got lost trying a new short cut," a familiar masculine voice drawled.

_Kakashi! He's going to be accompanying me on this mission? _Sakura tossed and turned the idea over in her mind. Of course it just had to be Kakashi and probably Sasuke too. It was just the kind of situation Sakura had tried to avoid since she began having dreams of Kakashi.

"Tsunade-sama, what exactly is the nature of this mission?" Sakura asked. She was confused as to why Team 7 would be reunited unless it was a very dangerous and top priority. She looked across the room and saw that her suspicions were correct and that Sasuke was indeed the other man with Kakashi. _Great, the man I dream of and the man I obsess about are going to be with me for who knows how long. Thank goodness Naruto has Hinata or else I would probably go insane. _

The fifth Hokage regarded the four adults in her office with a grave expression. She didn't want to inform them they would be on a recon mission in Cloud, especially when she knew that all four ninja in front of her were on the hit list of groups of Mist ninja. "Well since you are so eager Sakura, you four will be doing an intelligence gathering mission in Cloud country. It will be very dangerous, and combat is almost a guarantee. The Cloud country has been developing new jutsus and I want to know what they are. Tension is at an all time high, and I fear that another war is on the horizon for Konoha."

All four ninjas stood with mouths hanging open. Obviously the news was a bit of a surprise. Sakura looked from the faces of Naruto to Sasuke and then to Kakashi. She could tell that they were in for a rough mission, and some hard pressed traveling.

"Hokage-sama, when do we leave?" Of course Kakashi had already taken a leadership position. He had been their sensei for so long, the other three Jonin just fell into step with his ways. "Immediately Kakashi. I will need you all to be ready to head out within the hour. Sasuke, you and Kakashi will need to be extra careful if you encounter any rogue ninjas. They have their sights set on taking out the famous copy nin and the last rightful Uchiha, and I also fear they are after the Sharingan for their new jutsus," Tsunade replied.

The four ninjas nodded, faces set with determination. As Tsunade handed Kakashi a scroll detailing their mission and a few words of caution, the three younger Jonins waited in silence.

With a bow, the four left the office and paused once they were outside the tower. "We should meet at the gates in half an hour," Sasuke declared.

"Kakashi sensei, don't be late this time or I'll hunt you down myself," Sakura teased. The copy ninja gave her a quick smile, knowing that if he was late she would show up at his house.

After four hours of hard traveling the team decided to settle down in a fairly secluded area right on the border of Cloud and Fire country. Naruto decided to take the first watch while the others slept. Sakura, worn out from the traveling, had fallen asleep almost immediately on her bed roll.

Unknown to each other, Kakashi and Sasuke took up positions on either side of Sakura. Each man had his own reason to sleep close to the pink haired kunoichi. The two men fell deeper into sleep, trusting Naruto with the first watch while the young woman they were protecting tossed and turned, trapped in a nightmare.

A twig snapped in the night sending Sakura into a bolt upright position. She had still been trapped in her night terror otherwise she would have remembered to lie flat, not moving until the sound's source could be identified. Sakura's rash action caused her to sit right up into someone's arms. She could smell the sweat and anticipation of a kill taking over the ninja. A kunai pressed against her throat as a hand slapped hard over her mouth.

"You scream you die. You shift your weight you die. When I remove my hand kunoichi, you will not make one single noise do you understand?" an evil voice hissed in Sakura's ear. She knew that voice. It belonged to _him. _The man who haunted her dreams every night.

Sakura suddenly realized that someone else was awake. Someone she didn't want to see her like this. She instinctively leaned forward, pressing the blade into her soft skin a little, drawing a thin trickle of her own blood to run down her neck.

The man behind her hissed as he grabbed a fistful of her bubblegum colored hair to pull her away from the blade. As he did so, a hard punch landed at the base of his neck, knocking him out. There came a loud pop as the substitution jutsu was revealed and a useless piece of wood rested on the ground where the man had just sat.

"Sakura, are you alright? Why the hell did you lean into the kunai like that? He could have killed you, you know." Sasuke's voice was harsh and demanding, the tone bringing tears to the girl's eyes.

"Sasuke, don't you yell at Sakura-Chan! She didn't **ask **to have that kunai shoved at her throat," Naruto shouted.

Kakashi stood over Sakura and Sasuke, his one visible eye giving nothing of his mood away. "Sakura, are you alright?" he asked in his nonchalant way, but for one second, Sakura thought she saw a glimmer of worry in Kakashi's eye. _Was he really worried for her?_

"Yes Kakashi-senpai," she replied, her now chakra laden hand touching her neck. As Sakura forced the healing chakra into the wound to close it, Kakashi, Naruto, and Sasuke began to break camp.

"If Itachi is in the area, we will have to move quickly. Sasuke, you are **not** to go after your brother no matter what. If need be, I'll have Sakura knock you out until we reach our destination. Is that understood?" Kakashi demanded of the young man. He could see that Sasuke was none too pleased with the order, but he gave an almost imperceptible nod and held out a hand to help Sakura to her feet.

It had taken many years, but Sasuke had noticed Sakura finally. After returning to Konoha from Sound, Sasuke realized that Sakura truly did love him. He had been so stupid all those years ago to ignore her, and he was now concerned about keeping his one chance of restoring his clan alive. True Sasuke thought he should feel guilty for using Sakura in such a way, but after his time in Orochimaru's company, he couldn't find it in himself to really care all that much.

"Let's get moving," Kakashi said calmly, the sound of his voice cutting Sasuke's thoughts out. Kakashi looked first at Naruto who looked ready to tear someone limb from limb for hurting Sakura and then to Sasuke and Sakura. Sasuke looked at Sakura with a strange glint in his eyes that had the old sensei nervous. Sakura was looking off into the forest, her eyes slightly glazed over in thought. Kakashi's head swung around to face the opposite direction, his one visible eye scanning their surroundings carefully. _The enemy had found them. _


	2. Agony

Agony

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. All these characters belong to Masashi Kishimoto

A/N: Sorry I was slow in updating. School… EWW! Math... BIGGER EWW!!! Hope you enjoy, and please R&R!!!

Sakura ducked out of the way of a kunai as it flew past her face, missing her cheek by a scant few inches. Sasuke glared daggers at her.

"If you don't get the hell on the move, you will die here and I won't do a damn thing," he hissed between his teeth. At that precise moment another kunai came flying out of nowhere and clipped him high on the shoulder. The man spun around with the force of the impact and turned to face an enemy that was closing in on the team.

Sakura gathered chakra to her right fist and leapt over a ninja that was charging at her. She spun in mid air and slammed her chakra laden fist into his back, sending him through two trees. She turned on her heel in time to avoid another attack and used the momentum of the ninja to send him flying over her shoulder to join his buddy in a heap fifty feet away.

"Sakura, LOOK OUT!" Naruto yelled as he performed a kage bunshin no jutsu. Thankfully Naruto's warning reached Sakura before she caught katana to the neck. The ANBU ninja standing in front of her holding the katana sword just smirked as she did a double back flip away from him, molding chakra to her feet to help her escape.

Kakashi had heard Naruto yell out and he turned in time to see that Sakura had successfully escaped the wound. He then looked at Sasuke, who at the current moment had chosen to activate the Chidori, his Sharingan eyes blazing. Kakashi smirked as he saw Sasuke charge at another ninja without thought. He decided to take a more personal approach and went straight at the ninja that had attacked Sakura with the katana. He buried the kunai over and over in the man's chest, blood pumping out of the wounds and staining his hands.

Sakura had her own battle to deal with. Surrounded on three sides by ninja and a boulder at her back, she was pretty much trapped. _Cha! Let's kick ass!_ Inner Sakura was ready for a fight, and Sakura was ready to deliver. She gathered chakra once more to her fist and then, using a technique that Tsunade had taught her. She slammed her fist to the ground and opened a deep chasm in the earth. As two of the ninjas fell in, the other launched straight at her, shuriken in his hands.

Sakura screamed a high pitch sound of agony as three of the stars pierced her chest and stomach. Her blood began to flow freely from the wounds and she stared in shock at the crimson liquid of life flowing into the ground.

Suddenly, the Nin that attacked her was flung backwards, a loud, audible crack resonating through the clearing where the fight had taken place. Sakura was floating on a sea of pain and she looked up one last time before slipping into unconsciousness, the face of two men filling her sight before her eyes closed and darkness took her.

"Is Sakura-Chan going to be okay? When will she wake up? Why hasn't she woken up yet? Sasuke bastard why did you yell at her? What if she's dead?"

Those where the first things Sakura heard when she began to regain conscious.

"K-Kakashi, what happened to me?" the young, pink haired kunoichi asked. She put a hand to her head to feel for bumps that would explain her passing out, but could find no evidence of a head injury.

"You lost so much blood that you passed out," the silver haired sensei explained calmly. "We stopped the bleeding and you are all bandaged up, but I don't want you moving for a little while." His gaze was leveled at hers and in the depths of his one visible dark eye; Sakura could see the fear of losing her, hidden deep so that no one else would be able to tell.

Sakura turned her head and looked at Sasuke, who sat aloof from the rest of the group.

"Sasuke, are you alright?" she asked quietly. A part of her wanted him to answer and a part of her wanted him to stay silent.

"Hn," was his typical one syllable answer. Inside, Sakura could feel her heart shattering once more because of the young Uchiha. He had proclaimed to care for her and at the first sign of her weakness; he resorted to his old ways of casting her off as unimportant.

Sakura was in agony, not only from the slowly healing wounds, but because once more, she was the weak link in Team 7. A single tear slid down her cheek as she laid her head back onto the small cushion of a bed roll, presumably belonging to Naruto.

The blonde haired ball of energy was surprisingly quiet she thought as she closed her eyes to prevent any more tears.

Naruto was indeed quiet. He sat to the side of Sakura, glaring at Sasuke. The young man hadn't even checked to see if she was alright. Had it been Hinata laying there wounded, Naruto would have been hovering so close that no one would be able to run him off even if they used every forbidden jutsu known to ninjas. He finally stood up, believing Sakura to be asleep and walked into the forest. His thoughts took over and he sat at the base of a tree, worry and a hint of fear running rampantly through the boys head.

Kakashi knelt down beside his favorite pupil and secret love, tugging off his gloves as he did so. He reached out and gently wiped the tear off Sakura's cheek before sliding his fingers under her chin and tilted her head up.

"Sakura, I know you aren't asleep. Just let me know you will be okay. I was so scared I had lost you," the man said. It was a rare occurrence for Kakashi to touch Sakura, but to also verbalize his fear to her; she could tell that he was still in his own personal agony over not being there to protect her.

"Kakashi…" she said as she drifted off to sleep, not having the strength or chakra to keep herself awake another minute.


	3. Mine

Mine

Disclaimer: No, unfortunately I don't own these characters.

A/N: Thank you all to those who are becoming dedicated fans and reviewers! I'm trying to update this story every couple days. I'm also trying to include someone for Sasuke, but I'm not sure who yet. It might be a big surprise. Sorry this update was so late. I've been busy with school. I'm going to try and get 2 chapters up this week to make up for it!

With a long, mouth wide open yawn, Sakura stretched her tired, aching muscles before she even dared open her eyes. She figured she had slept right through the night and as wonderful as the rest was, she knew they needed to proceed to the Hidden Mist village, recover their information and high tail it out of there.

Five hours of hard travel and a few fights later, Sasuke, Sakura, Naruto, and Kakashi stood at the base of a large tree on the outer edge of the village hidden in the Mist. Sasuke had stayed almost on top of Sakura through the whole journey.

After the battle, Sasuke had undergone a very drastic change. Sakura was extremely worried for him. He had drawn into himself and although this wasn't a very odd occurrence, it was different today. Not only did he withdraw into himself, but he tried to drag Sakura along with him.

"Sasuke will you please take a couple steps away from me please?" Sakura asked quietly. His absolute closeness was to say the least disconcerting.

Kakashi arched one eyebrow at the request, and his one visible eye gave nothing away as always, but inside he was laughing. _So Sakura finally told him to get back. I was wondering when her temper would flare up. Tsunade's own temper seems to have rubbed off on her. _

The four ninja looked out at the border that they were about to cross. With a quiet sigh Sakura shouldered her pack and looked expectantly at her sensei.

The sigh was not unnoticed by the old Jounin, but he refrained from saying anything. Sakura was tired of fighting off Sasuke's approaches and Naruto's energy.

"Alright, now the mission really begins. We must go in unnoticed, in disguise, and meet with a feudal lord. He has arranged for us to stay at one of his many inns, but we are no longer ninja of Konoha. We are ordinary citizens. Everyone must be especially careful when we attend the grand ball this evening to mask your chakra. We don't want to attract attention."

At the mention of a ball, Sakura's eyes lit up and a small smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. If they were going to a ball, Kakashi had already arranged for clothes… she hoped.

Sasuke grumbled and groaned as he received his room key from Kakashi. The team leader had removed his forehead protector and instead wore a black eye patch over his one Sharingan eye. He still wore his mask, but without his headband, he looked completely different. Sasuke was not nearly as perturbed about having to alter his appearance a bit but more for the fact that he was being assigned to share a room with Naruto.

"Why can't Sakura-chan share a room with me instead of Sasuke-teme?" Naruto complained. "She's a lot easier on the eyes than he is."

"Shut up dobe. Didn't you hear Kakashi? He and Sakura are sharing a room because she's the medic and he's going to need her around to keep his one eye from bothering him."

No, Sasuke didn't really believe that line of bull. He knew exactly why Kakashi had insisted Sakura share a room with him. He didn't want Sakura to flirt with him. _The old perv. He probably wants to get into her pants. I'll just have to watch out for her myself then. _

_**Cha! Sasuke is so jealous! He looks mad that you and Kakashi are sharing a room. **_

Inner Sakura really knew what she was talking about. Sakura's thoughts were drawn back to the present though with a loud, insistent pounding on her door. As she threw it open, her hand already curled into a fist in case it was Naruto, she had to stop suddenly. There stood a young girl with an armload of clothes.

" Yoshi-sama sent these over for his most esteemed guests," the young woman whispered quietly, not meeting Sakura's eyes.

"Thank you. Please convey our most humble gratitude for the outfits," came a strong male voice from behind Sakura. Before she could even get a word out, Kakashi had reached past her and take the clothing and closed the door.

"I see we have our outfits. Shall we get ready then Kakashi-sensei?"

"Yes. I will get ready in the room with Sasuke and Naruto so that you may have a quiet place to change and ready yourself Sakura." With that he handed her a garment bag that in it contained her dress and accessories.

With a slight nod, Sakura took the bag and set it down on the bed. She unzipped it and gasped at the beautiful black ensemble on the hanger. It was SHORT. The old lord must be a closet perv.

Half an hour had passed and Sakura was putting the finishing touches on her make up when a knock sounded on her door. She took one last look at herself in the mirror and decided she looked as good as she ever would.

She opened the door and had to hide a smile as all three sets of eyes widened considerably. Her face turned a shade of pink that almost matched her hair before she could speak.

"Too much?" she asked quietly.

"Where are your weapons?" was all Sasuke could think to ask her. His little question ruined Sakura's mood in under three seconds.

"For your information, I have kunai hidden in my dress and a shuriken pouch on my thigh." She then turned around and pointed at her hair. It was pinned up in a messy pile of curls by four senbon needles that would definitely come in handy.

"Well, let's go." Was all Kakashi could say. _Damn.. and to think I'm in the same room with her. She's beautiful.. and all mine. _

The four ninjas arrived at the ball without making a loud entrance, a great feat considering that they had Naruto who was still nursing a bloody nose from seeing Sakura in her dress.

"Make rounds and try to get familiar with the people, hiding places, and layout of the building. Our goal is hidden in a secret room in this very mansion," Kakashi said simply to his team.

As Sakura was making her rounds, she felt someone come up behind her and take her elbow. She turned around to reveal it was none other than Sasuke.

"Dance with me… now," he said as he spun her onto the dance floor. Sasuke kept his voice low as he leaned close to whisper angrily in her ear. "You shouldn't be dressed like that. You will only draw suspicion to yourself Sakura."

"Sasuke, I know what I'm doing and this is the outfit I was given. Don't for one minute think to control me. I'm not the little twelve year old who followed you everywhere anymore."

With that Sakura started to leave the dance floor and make a slow circle around the whole room.

Suddenly she was shoved into a dark alcove, Sasuke's hand covering her mouth so she remained quiet. Sasuke slid one arm behind her back and pulled her body flush against his. Sakura could feel Sasuke's arousal and she struggled to get out of his grasp but he was pinning her between his body and a wall.

Sakura managed to get one hand up and made a few hand seals before flicking Sasuke in the stomach with one finger. He flew out onto the floor and Sakura walked out of the alcove, but not before realizing Kakashi was standing right next to her.

The tall Jounin looked at her and she noticed something in his eyes that hadn't been there before. Pure, cold fury. Sakura gasped as Kakashi strode over to Sasuke and hauled him up to his feet. Even whispering in Sasuke's ear, Sakura could hear what was being said.

"Don't you _ever _try that again. Sakura is your team mate." _Not to mention she is __**mine. **_Kakashi silently added.


	4. Was It Wrong?

Was it Wrong?

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto unfortunately.

A/N: This chapter may have a bit of angst and a little fluff attached. I like to keep everything interesting. If anyone has any suggestions for a great villainous name, please let me know. I'm trying to use a name I have yet to see in any of the amazing stories I have read on here. There are so many. Thank you to all of my readers who are keeping up with this story. I will do my best to update frequently. I'm writing as I get time so it might be hit or miss every week, but I'm trying to get this story really rolling. Anywho.. Read, enjoy, and please R&R!

Team 7 had finally returned to their hotel rooms. Sasuke was still fuming about Kakashi's treatment of him during the information gathering. Sakura was fuming that Sasuke had dared to put his hands on her, and Kakashi was fuming that Sakura was put in a compromising position. Poor Naruto had no clue what had happened, but he could see that all the other members of his team were upset for his or her own reasons. The intelligence they had gathered so far would help them greatly, especially in determining the new jutsus that the Hidden Mist village was developing. They were also able to catch a glimpse of the man who they had to remove as a priority one threat to Leaf.

After a small break for lunch, the team members assembled in Sakura and Kakashi's room to share information thus far

"Well we know that the target is a direct threat to the village and especially Tsunade-sama," Sakura began. Her head was bent and she was avoiding eye contact with the other members of her team. She couldn't face Naruto and risk him seeing the pain of what Sasuke did to her be revealed, and she couldn't face Kakashi because if she did, then she knew she would cry.

Sasuke would be easier to face because she had pure anger directed at him at the moment. She would have cared less if someone; preferably she put him to sleep with a senbon strategically placed in his body.

"I heard speculation that the new jutsu is a way to permanently trap another's soul in an inanimate vessel. Should that vessel be destroyed, then the person would die as well. As long as the container was safe, so would the person's soul be," Kakashi added.

"So I could trap pervy-sage's soul in something like a rag doll?" Naruto asked with a grin and a not so sane glint in his eye.

"You dobe, it would be permanent and this jutsu shouldn't be developed in the first place. Just think if someone like Orochimaru learned how to do this," the quiet, onyx eyed Uchiha stated.

_Well… he is capable of rational thought, _the white haired Jounin sensei thought bitterly. He was still extremely angry at Sasuke for his actions the previous night.

The team discussed their information a while longer before deciding to rendezvous at the diner in the hotel for dinner. Naruto and Sasuke headed off in their respective distances to go occupy themselves for a while. Naruto would undoubtedly go off and find a ramen stand, while Sasuke scouted the town and hunted down some meaningless trinket to make peace with Sakura.

Before Sakura could leave, Kakashi blocked the door. He had witnessed her withdrawn, quietly angry demeanor all day, and now decided to confront her about last night.

"Eh.. Sakura… about Sasuke and what he did last night; I just want to make sure that you are okay?" Kakashi asked her a bit awkwardly. The older Jounin had been trying to puzzle out his explosive reaction all day and all of last night. He shouldn't have cared so much, but Sakura's distress weighed heavily on his mind. He just wasn't ready to admit that it had absolutely nothing to do with team cohesiveness and everything to do with his feelings towards her.

Upon hearing the slightly concerned note in Kakashi's voice, Sakura lost it. She had been head over heels with him for three years. THREE YEARS and she finally got his attention… it just wasn't the kind she wanted to receive from him. Tears filled her emerald eyes and cascaded down her pale cheeks in two very noticeable tracks.

As if his body was not his own, Kakashi stepped close to Sakura and caressed her face with his gloved hands. The gloves were fingerless so he was free to wipe away the two tear tracks with the pads of his thumbs. He carried one tear stained hand to his chest and held it right over his beating heart. Her tears matched the pain he felt in his chest at her sadness.

Sakura, not thinking of the consequences after seeing his very strange yet extremely endearing behavior caught Kakashi's head with her hands and dragged it down to meet with her mouth.

The kiss was brief, too brief, but a knock on the door of their room had them breaking apart; Sakura hurried to the bathroom while Kakashi pulled himself together and stalked to the door, flinging it open.

"Kakashi sensei I did not mean to let what happened last night actually occur. Please pass this to Sakura," Sasuke said as he handed over a small box wrapped in white paper that was secured with a small light pink bow.

"I will," he replied before closing the door, box in hand.

"I don't want that. It's not a sorry gift. It's a guilt gift," a soft voice echoed from the bathroom.

"Open it Sakura. You won't know what's in it until you open it."

A very dramatic sigh was heard as she emerged and picked the package out of his upturned palm.

With a little tug, the ribbon fell away and with it so did the paper wrappings. Sakura lifted the lid of the box and there sat a thin silver chain with a pink painted cherry blossom pendant.

Kakashi removed the box from her hands and pulled the small necklace from its container. He unclasped the necklace and gently placed it around her neck.

"You look even more beautiful now," Kakashi said sincerely.

Sakura circled his wrist with her fingers, tugging insistently until he looked at her. She stood on her tiptoes and tried to once more seal their mouths together, but a finger stood in her way.

"We can't… not now," and with those final words, Kakashi stepped away from her and left the room.

Sakura's eyes filled full of tears but she refused to let them fall. She refused to give Kakashi the satisfaction of causing her to cry. Instead she pulled every ounce of her anger to herself and tore the door open.

To her surprise there stood Kakashi, who looked as though his heart had just been ripped from his chest. Sakura had never witnessed such a lost and pained look from her sensei. She then remembered what he had just done to her. She grit her teeth and turned to face him.

"Was it wrong? Was I just THAT girl? The one that everyone can step all over. The girl who pours herself out to someone and then once more gets ground into the dirt? Well I'm through Kakashi! You can take you sweet words and you amazingly wonderful self and never, NEVER look at me again."

By now the young woman's tears had spilled forth and were pouring down her cheeks with great intensity. The silver haired man before her looked down at her from his considerable height but she refused to look him in the eyes. It was just as well because some unnamed emotion that could be love was reflected in his one visible eye.

Without a second thought Kakashi caught the young beauty by the arms and pulled her resisting form against his chest. He stood there with her in his arms and the world seemed to right itself.

"No Sakura. It wasn't wrong. You weren't wrong. You are completely right. Please… don't cry Sakura. You weren't wrong," Kakashi whispered softly to her as he ran his hand through her pink hair.

Only after his words sank into her mind did she realize that he truly did care. She tilted her tear stained face up to look at him.

"Was it wrong? Really Kakashi… was it wrong?" She breathed softly over and over.

Little did the couple know that in the darkened hallway there sat a pair of Sharingan eyes watching them from a black cloak covered in red clouds.


End file.
